In the aftermath of September 11th, however, the targeting and killing of individual Al Qaeda members without juridical process has come to be seen within the Bush Administration as justifiable military action in a new kind of war
I hate to say it, but on this I agree with the Administration. I don't like it, but I see no way around it. We didn't choose the terms of this war, the terrorists did. If they want to hide in the midst of a civilian population, we have to go in after them. If the countries where they are hiding won't or can't do the job, it is better for us to go in and do it ourselves than to try and take over every one of those governments and install governments that will cooperate.
The grim reality of this, also, is that sooner or later this same policy will have to be applied outside the Middle East. There will come a time when people in Europe and the US will have to be killed or kidnapped, if the terrorist organizations are to be successfully dismantled. Yes, this is illegal, and yes, it will make a mess. It won't make nearly as big a mess as leaving the terrorists alone would, though, and it won't make nearly as big a mess as declaring war on governments only peripherally related to terrorism.
The terrorists can function without support from any given government. They cannot function, particularly outside their own bases, without their key administrative and logistic support staff. These are our targets, and we have to do what is necessary to destroy them. |
